George colledge



(No Model.)

G. GOL-LEDGE. NEEDLE THREADER.

No. 591,326. Patented 001:. 5,1897

' WiWssas.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE CQLLEDGE, OF PIETERllIARlTZBURG, NATAL.

NEEDLE-THREADER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 591,326, dated October 5, 1897.

Application filed August 6, 1896. Serial No. 601,878. (No model.) Patented in England October 7, 1895, No. 18,759, and in Germany January 23,1896, No. 90,829.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE COLLEDGE, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Pietermaritzburg, in the Colony of Natal, have invented an'lmproved Instrument to Facilitate Threading Needles by Hand, (for which I have obtained a patent in England, dated October 7, 1895, No. 18,759, and in Germany, dated January 23, 1896, No. 90,829,) of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to enable needles to be threaded with facility even by per-- sons with short or weak sight and without I 5 liability to straining the eyes. For this purpose my needle-threader is constructed with a body which may be of oblong form in which there is a hole for insertion of the needle to' be threaded and a spring device adapted to grip and hold the needle in position for threading, which spring device can be by a suitable knob moved and held out of the path of the needle while the needle is being inserted into the needle-threader for the purpose of being threaded or, having been threaded, is being withdrawn from the needle-threader.

Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the accompanying drawings are respectively front, plan, side,

and rear views showing to an enlarged scale 0 a needle-threader constructed according to this invention. Fig. 5 is a section on the line m at of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a plan View of a spring with projection, drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 is a front view of the needle- 3 5 threader with the front plate removed; and

Figs. 7, 8, and 9 are central longitudinal sec tions of the needle-threader, the two latter figures showing the mode of using it. Fig. 10

' shows the needle-threader to a smaller scale 40 and provided with a handle. I

1 is the body, constructed of metal or other suitable material.

2 is the holetherein for insertion of the needle 2*, Fig. 9, to be threaded.

3 is the spring device, which consists of a spring-blade arranged within a chamber formed in the body 1 by providing the latter with a removable front plate 1" of channel form in cross-section, Fig. 5. The spring device is fixed at one end, as by a screw 3*, to

the body of the needle-threader and is made at its other end (it may be by stamping) with a small trumpet-shaped hollow projection 3", having its axis at right angles to the hole 2, and the free end of which is flattened on two opposite sides, Fig. 5,.so that it can partly enter theeye ofa needle, Fig.9, passed eye end foremost through the hole 2, and hold the needle in the right position for threading.

2 is a recess to receive the inner end of the needle. The projection 3*, while suitable for holding in position needles of different sizes within moderate limits, will, by the elasticity of the spring device 3, slightly turn the needle and bring its eye exactlyin line with the hole through the hollow projection, if it be not already in line, and will then hold the needle at the top and bottom of the needleeye, leaving the central or Widest part of the eye clear for the passage of the thread or cotton with which it is to be threaded.

The knob 4 is carried bya stern that works freely through the body 1 and bears at its inner end against the spring device 3, the said inner end being enlarged to prevent the knob becoming detached from the body. the body 1 and in line with the hollow projection 3 is a guiding-hole 5, the front end of which is located in the front plate 1'", which is preferably made of some white or light material--for example, ivory or bone or substitutes thereforin order that the guiding-hole 5 therein may be readily distinguished.

The needle-threader may be formed with a hole 7, Fig. 1, to enable it to be suspended from a belt, or be provided with a handle 8, Fig. 10.

In order to thread a needle, the spring device 3 is moved back by means of the knob 4, Fig. 8, the needle 2 is inserted eye end first through the hole 2, then the spring device is released, and the cotton or thread 6 is inserted through the front end of the guiding.- hole 5, whence it passes through the hollow projection 3 the eye of the needle 2 and out through the opposite end of the guiding-hole 5. After the needle has been thus threaded the spring device 3 is pressed clear of it, Fig. 8, and the threaded needle withdrawn.

What I claim is 1. A needle-threader comprising'a body in which there is a longitudinal hole for inser- Through ICO tion of a needle to be threaded and also a guiding-hole arranged at right angles thereto for cotton or thread, a springdevice located wholly within the said body and adapted to grip and hold the needle in position for threading, and a knob whereby the said spring device can be moved and held out of the path of a needle while it is being inserted into the first-mentioned hole for the purpose of being threaded, or having been threaded, is being withdrawn from the instrument, all substantially as described.

2. A needle-threader comprising a body 1 with needle-hole 2, 2" and thread-hole 5, aremovable cover-plate l with thread-hole 5, the two holes 5 registering with each other so as to form a continuous hole through the threader, a spring-blade 3 fixed near one end within said body and provided near the other end with a hollow conical projection 3* flattened at two opposite sides, and a pusher 4 extending through the wall of said body and arranged to act against said spring-blade, substantiall y as described for the purposes specified.

3. A needle-threader comprising a body, a spring device located within said body, an opening for a needle in said body, a hollow projection on said spring device registering with and adapted to guide the thread to the eye of the needle, and an opening in said body for the admission of the thread, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of 35 two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE COLLEDGE. \Vitncsses:

JOHN THOMSON, CHARLES TALBOT. 

